Game-cards.



H W. WELLS.

GAME CARDS.

APPLICATION FILED MAYI. um.

11,292,184. Patented Jan. 21,1919.

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H-WIl eZZa H. W. WELLS.

GAME CARDS.

APPLLCATIQN FILED MAY 1. 191-1.

Patented Jan. 21,1919.

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GAME CARDS.

APPLLCATION man MAY 1. i917.

Patented Jan. 21,1919,

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CAPITOL, DOVER. CAPITOLJALLAHASSEE. CAPITOL, ATLANTA. NICKNAMLBWE HENsTATE- NICKNAME, FLQWER SFATE. MIC/(MAME. CHM/ ER \STATE 1 v P P P 3 GA.n mo. 1 C GA. \DAHO. m0. GA. IDAHO. ILL. ADMITTED TO UNION, I890ADM'TTED T UNI N, P8 ADMI TED TOUN ON 8% A, swa Q ARE MLE AREA 66,650sou/m: MIL-E AREA 36,950 squARE Mulls NUMBER OF COUNT\E5, 2| NUMBER OFCOUNT/6,102 NUMBER OF COUNTIES, S3. POPULATION 0F sTATE,a25, 59u pommnouoreraraqaqssi- POPULATION 0F .sTATsz'loqsfle CAPITOL I BOISECAPlTOL,SPfl/M$F/LD CAP\TOL.,INDIANAPOLI6 N KNAME, GEM OFTHEMWNTAINS-NICHNAME H0O-5IER S ATE- of the District HENRY W. WELLS, OF VAN NUYS,CALIFORNIA.

GAME-CARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 21, 1919.

Application filed May 7, 1917. Serial N 0. 166,957.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY W. WELLS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Van Nuys, in the county of Los Angeles and State ofCalifornia, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Game-Cards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to game devices and has as its object to providea pack of playing cards with which interesting and instructive games maybe played.

More specifically, the invention aims to provide a pack of playing cardsso arranged that in the playing of games with said pack the players willbecome familiar with data concerning the States of the United States andthe District of Columbia, such, for example, the State boundaries,population, etc.

The invention also contemplates, as a novel feature in game devices ofthis class, j

the provision upon the reverse face of each card of a symbol, design, orthe like, such, for example, as a representation of the State seal, toindicate to the players other than the player holding the said card, thecharacter of the card.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure 1 is a plan view of a hand of the cards, the view illustratingthe reverse faces of the cards comprising the hand;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the obverse face of that card of the deck knowntrict card;

Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6 are plan views of the cards of one book;

Figs. 7, 8, 9 and 10 are plan views of the cards of another book;

Figs. 11, 12, 13 and 14 are plan views of the cards comprising a thirdbook.

Each card of the deck with the exception card represents some one Stateof the Union and the forty-eight State cards are divided into twelvebooks each comprising four cards, the District card making theforty-ninth or odd card. The drawings illustrate three books of thecards and the arrangement of the remaining books will be understoodtherefrom, and inasmuch as the Disas the principle involved is the samein each book it is thought that a description of the cards comprisingthe first This particular book is illustrated in Figs.

3, 4, 5 and 6 of the drawings, and in the book will suffice.

2. While these colors are preferred it will be understood that the saidnumber 1 may be printed in other colors if desired so long as each cardbears a different color. At this point it may be stated that the cardscomprising the second book, which cards are illustrated in Figs. 7, 8, 9and 10 of the drawings, bear the number 2 printed in correspondinglydifferent colors and that the cards of the other books bearing-numberscorresponding=to the number of the book; thus the cards comprisingthetwelfth .book will each bear the number 12. A.rectangular border 3 isalso printed upon the obverse face of each card and upon the said faceof each card above the border'3 there are printed in full or in anabbreviated form, the names of the State cards required to complete thatparticular book. For example, the card shown in Fig. 3 of the drawingsrepresents the State of California and inasmuch as the book embraces theState cards, California, Alabama, Arkansas and Arizona, the said cardshown in Fig. 3 will bear the State names, Alabama, Arizona andArkansas, as indicated by the numeral 4, these three State cards incombination with the card shown in Fig. 3, or, in other words, the cardrepresenting the State of California comprising the first book. In likemanner the card shown in Fig. 4, which card represents the State ofAlabama, will bear at its top the State names, Arkansas, Arizona andCalifornia. Within the space defined by the border 3 near the top of thecard there is printed, as indicated by the numeral 5, certain datarelating to the State represented by that particular card and in thepresent instance this data consists of the date of admittance of theState to the Union, the area of the State, the number of counties, thepopulation, the capital, and the State nickname. Of course, this datamay disclose other facts and may be more or less comprehensive asdesired. Within the space defined by the border 3 below the dataindicated by the numeral 5, there is printed a map embracing the Staterepresented by the card and its bounding States or, bodies of water. Forexample, in the instance of the card shown in Fig. 3, the map embracesthe State of California represented by said card, as indicated by thenumeral 6, and also the bounding States of Oregon, Nevada and Arizona asalso lower California and the Pacific Ocean. In the instance of eachcard, the map of the State which that card represents is printed in somedistinctive color, as clearly shown in the several figures of thedrawings so that the player may readily identify the cards which heholds.

,Upon the reverse face of each card, which face is indicated by thenumeral 7 and is, in other words, the space which is exposed to the viewof the players other than the player holding that particular card in hishand, there is printed, as indicated by the numeral 8, a map of theUnited States, the several States being indicated by numberscorresponding to the numbers borne by the respective State cards of thedeck. For example, in the said map 8, the States California, Alabama,Arkansas and Arizona will each be designated by the number 1 and thisnumber in each instance will be printed in a color corresponding to thecolor in which it is printed upon the respective State card.

In other words, upon the said map 8 the States in the order mentionedwill be designated by the number 1 printed respectively in red, blue,black and yellow. There is also printed upon the said reverse face ofeach State card, a representation of the great seal of the UnitedStates, as indicated by the numeral 9 and also a representation of thegreat seal of the State represented by said card, as indicated by thenumeral 10. These representations of the United States andState sealsare respectively located in the upper right and upper left hand cornersof the said face of each card so that when the cards are held in thehand in the ordi nary manner the representations of the State seals uponall of the cards will be exposed in view of the players other than theplayer holding the hand. Thus eachplayer, if he is familiar with theseals of the States of the Union, will be apprised of the State cardsheld by each of his opponents.

The reverse face of the card representing the District of Columbia, ofcourse, bears the seal of the District of Columbia in the upper lefthand corner of said face. The obverse face of the card representing theDistrict of Columbia bears data concerning the District andcorresponding ,to the data 5 upon the State cards and below this datathe said face of the card bears a representation of the United StatesCapitolp In the upper left hand corner there is printed upon the saidface of the card a representation of a star, as indicated by the numeral11.

There are several games which may be played with the cards embodying thepresent invention and following are the rules for playing one of suchgames.

Shuflie cards well and deal to the left one card at a time until eachplayer has five cards (players will let their cards remain on tableuntil dealer is through dealing) and lay the surplus pack face downwardin the center of table. The player to the left of dealer then starts theplay by calling (to the left one player at a time) from each one or theother players a card giving number desired (not more than one card fromeach player at one play). If the player called upon holds a card of thenumber called for, he will ask the caller what State that cardrepresents. If the caller answers correctly the player will surrendercard to caller, and draw one from the surplus pack to replace the onesurrendered, but if the player called upon does not hold a card of thenumber called for, or caller does not answer correctly he will say nothere and caller calls on next player. If the caller fails to get a cardin the call and has no cards he wishes to hold for the count at the endof his play it is a blank play and the play passes on, but if he has apair or book he wishes to hold for the count he lays them onthe tableface up, these cards are called held for the count and cannot be calledaway from him. He then draws enough cards from the deck to give him fivecards in his hand and the play passes on.

The players will watch closely the deal and cards drawn from the surplusdeck after the deal. The player, excepting the dealer, first seeing theDistrict card and calling District can claim the District privilege. Thedealer stops the deal, places the District card back in the deckshuflles the cards and then continues the deal. If two or more playerssee and call District at the same time the card is placed back in thedeck and there is no privilege allowed. The dealer is allowed oneprivilege for dealing and does not call District in the deal, but if thecard comes to him in the deal and is not noticed by other players untilafter he picks it up it gives him another privilege also.

To secure a privilege a player (other than the dealer) must callDistrict before the card is picked'up either in the deal or draw.

There is no limit to the cards that can be drawn out of a players handby a player having the District privilege the player calling can utilizethe card to help make a pair or book in that play, and answers questionscorrectly. After the caller has passed one player he cannot go back tohim again. When the District card appears in the draw it is the same asin the deal placed back in the deck and cards shufiled.

If the caller does not recognize a card in another play'ers hand thatwill help to complete a pair or book'in his hand, he may call any cardhe wishes or disregard his own hand and draw any card, watching closelyand calling a card that will break a pair or book held by that playerand trying to pre vent a player from completing a pair or book withoutcalling for it.

A player having three cards of a book at the end of a play and wishingto take chances of getting the fourth, may do so by placing them facedownward on the table in front of him and calling the number down, suchas fours down or sevens down, etc., which means that he is holding themfor the fourth card. No player, but one having the District privilegeand holding the fourth card and answering questions, can call thesecards from him.

A player may hold as many cards in his hand as he wishes, but never lessthan five until cards are exhausted. Players must hold cards up so asthe backs may be plainly seen by the other players.

Another game which may be played with the cards will now be described.

The rules of the first game govern in this game with the exception ofthe call and showdown.

Before the players start to play this game they will pick out a certainquestion to be answered in the call, such as What is the nickname? Whatis the capital? What State bounds. on the north, south, east or west'?,or any question which may be answered by data on the face of the card.

The player starting a play will call for a card giving the name of theState he desires, and when required will point out that card in theplayers hand. If the players decide that the question to be asked willbe: lVhat is the number of counties?, the player called upon will askthat question, if caller answers correctly the card is surrendered, ifnot the play is the same as in the first game. The players will select adifferent question to be asked in the showdown. When a player gets apair or book he wishes to hold for the count he lays it face up on thetable so the rest of the players can see it, and calls, pair or book up.

so long as the State.

If the players select the' question What year admitted to Union?--theplay proceeds, as for example:

Four players A, B, C and Dam playing, I

B gets the book of twos and-lays it down face up on the table and callsout book up. A, or the player to the right, picks the book up (A picksout any State he wishes to ask the uestion from) and asks, What year wastimes in quick succession. If B fails to answer, or answer correctly (bystating that Delaware is one of the thirteen original States) before Afinishes calling, A passes to C, takes a different State and asks himthe same question regarding that State, three times, the same as he didB regarding Delaware. If 0 answers correctly the book goes to him and isshown down on the table to let all players see Bs mistake. But if 0fails to answer correctly A passes to D, takes a different State andrepeats the question. If D answers correctly the book goes to him but ifnot the book goes to A by default,

and A shows it doWn on the table to let all the players see theirmistake.

Asking the question three times in quick succession may be omittedquestion asked only once.

A third game which may be played by the use of the cards is as follows:1

The rules are the same as in the first and second games with theexception that :the players do not select questions to be asked.

A player desiring a card from another players hand will call for thecard, naming The player called upon may ask the caller any question onthe face of the card he wishes. If caller fails to answer correctly theplay is the same as in the first and second games. The showdown is thesame as the call; a player asking questions from a pair or book may askany question he wishes.

Still another game which may be played is in the nature of a handicapand may be described as follows:

If a player or players familiar with the game Wish to play with a playerwho is not, they may play the second or third game while the player whois not familiar plays elaware admitted to Union? three l if wished andthe the first or second, allowing the showdown to pass the unfamiliarplayer while he is playing the first game.

he game consists of forty-nine points and in counting the points a pairis equal to one point and a book to three points.

Having thus described the inventiom'what is claimed as new is:

1. A deck of playing cards certain cards of which bear upon one face amap and an emblem and upon the other face a map of a subdivision of theterritory shown by the first-mentioned map, the said emblem beingindicative of the territory shown in the seoof the book, and having uponits other face 10 ond-mentioned map. a symbol indicative of the Stateshown by 2. A deck of playing cards comprising a said map and also a mapof the United card representing the District of Columbia, States, theindicators common to the cards of and twelve books of four cards each,each the respective books being duplicated on the card of the bookshaving upon one face a respective States in the map of the United 15 mapof a State of the United States, an in- States.

dicator common to all the cards of the same In testimony whereof I afiixmy signature. book, and means identifying the other cards HENRY W.WELLS. [L. S]

